From Stone to Spirit

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

God put the first and most important part of his law, the Ten Commandments, on stone and then gave them to Moses to carry down a mountain to present to the people. It was only ten laws, but apparently that was too much information for one stone tablet, so it was split into two. Now, that would have been an interesting thing to see. Did tablets just appear out of thin air? Or did God cause a huge piece of granite to break off the mountain before he shaped it into a tablet? That would have been fun. Then, how were they written on? Did God use a chisel or lasers? Why not lasers? And what does God’s handwriting look like anyway? These are all questions that I will one day ask, however, that isn’t the point. The point is that God’s Law, which was the basis of His covenant with humanity was written on two stones.

Now, the benefit of stone as a medium for the written word is clearly its longevity. If those stones were still around, we could probably still read the writing on them. However, stone tablets have a few big weaknesses. First, they can be broken… and sure enough, that was the fate of the first set as soon as Moses’ anger burned hot (Exodus 32:19 ESV). But secondly, and more importantly, stone might be one of the least efficient methods of communication ever designed. They are large, heavy and quite difficult to duplicate. Stone tablets can’t go viral. It would take a significant amount of effort to spread them around. Instead, a stone tablet is something that is most likely designed to stay in one place.

But God’s message to humanity was not ever supposed to stay in one place. It was supposed to spread. It was supposed to go viral. But they didn’t understand that God’s message was not just the words on the stone. It was the heart of the Person who engraved them… it was the Spirit of the stones. Yes, even those first ten rules were meant to show Yahweh’s love for humanity. That love is a concept that can spread. That love is what can go viral. But not if the focus remained on the stones. God looked forward to a day when his message would find a better medium. He says of that day, I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. (Ezekiel 31:33)

That day occurred through Jesus, and now we proclaim that there is something superior to stone. We have the Spirit of Jesus himself available to each of us. The movement of God throughout history has been a movement from stone to Spirit. So, on this Christmas Eve, will you join me in inviting the Spirit of the living God to chisel Jesus’ law of love on our hearts? Then let’s Invite Jesus to lead us to love those around us, with the hope that God’s grand message of love will go viral and transform hearts of stone to hearts filled with his Spirit.